True faith is a gift from God. It comes from His amazing grace and continual desire to draw close to His creation. But what we do with this gift determines a great deal about how our life will unfold.
We can ignore it and gradually, like an unwatered plant it will whither, grow dormant, or even die. We can nourish it with periodic church attendance, bible study, occasional prayer, positive thinking, and the likes. And we might find this faith a welcome friend, although perhaps not strong enough to whether the toughest of storms. Worse yet, sometimes we place our faith in unsustainable sources: untrustworthy friends, finances, health, science, politics, sometimes even family. My personal experience is that only the faith that continues to grow daily in the One True God offers real and lasting hope. Over time this faith becomes the most practical expression of daily living and speaks to all everyday problems and circumstances.
As I interact with the nurses here at the hospital, I can usually clue in to which days are more chaotic than others, which ones just pull them down. Today, in connecting with one such dear nurse, I reminded her of the true story when Jesus spoke and calmed a storm. I told her that He could do that for her now, and also that even if her storm continues, He can calm HER heart in the midst of the storm.
This is almost always our personal experience in our current cancer storm. The storm continues, but God calms our hearts. We have made consistent faith deposits in good times so we have an abundant account from which to draw upon now. Faith is also like a muscle you exercise regularly so that it is ready to bear the weight required of it.
But all this talk of rising above the storm, staring cancer in the face with strong resolution is not the talk of a “super-Christian”, far from it! Faith is simply lived out, imperfectly, day by day, and usually moment by moment.
Faith still needs to climb mountains, it still needs to go through the valleys.
Today, I find my mind thinking and talking to my body about this second round of chemo as my stomach starts to react negatively. Worry still tries to creep in. But worry is counterproductive. Essentially, worry is the prayer of the atheist. This quote I found today speaks good advice when we start to worry:
“Don’t waste your energy on worry.
Use your energy to BELIEVE.”
What do you choose to believe in so much that it guides your consistent and intentional thoughts and actions throughout the activities of your day? What faith growingly consumes your passion and fills you with purpose? May it be a faith that is completely trustworthy, a faith that will climb mountains.